Inhibitory Control Task Research Articles

An Investigation of the Associations Between Counterfactual Reasoning and Executive Functions in Chinese Preschool Children

ABSTRACT Counterfactual reasoning involves reasoning about what could have happened but did not happen in the past. It assists people to learn from experience to improve future performance. Different from English with subjunctive forms (e.g. if someone had done something), Chinese does not apply subjunctive forms. In Chinese, people often decide that a premise is counterfactual based on their knowledge of the past, which involves working memory. This study investigated counterfactual reasoning performance and the associations between counterfactual reasoning and executive functions in 257 Chinese 4- to 6-year-olds. Children completed counterfactual reasoning, working memory, inhibitory control, and receptive language tasks. Results showed that Chinese 4-year-olds achieved above-chance counterfactual reasoning performance. Also, working memory was significantly associated with counterfactual reasoning. Hence, Chinese children might solve counterfactual reasoning tasks without complex subjunctive forms relatively early, and working memory might assist counterfactual reasoning in Chinese.

Higher eigenvector centrality in grooming network is linked to better inhibitory control task performance but not other cognitive tasks in free-ranging Japanese macaques.

The Social Intelligence Hypothesis predicts that complex social environments promote higher cognitive capacities. This hypothesis is often tested by comparing species or conspecific groups with varying group sizes or social structures. However, individual social environments differ not only among species or groups but also within the same group. We examined the relationship between social centrality and cognitive ability in wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). We created a grooming network using data from 196 adult macaques and calculated social centrality for each individual. We then tested the macaques with a cognitive test battery to assess their abilities in social, physical, and inhibitory control domains. Our findings revealed that social centrality was uniquely associated with inhibitory control performance, particularly in the behavioral inhibition task, but not with other cognitive domains. This suggests that inhibitory control, a key component of executive functions, plays a pivotal role in the social lives of wild Japanese macaques.

Correlation of Reaction Time Differences in Naïve vs. Scientific Concept Conflict Task with the Stroop Interference Effect: Exploring the Concepts that “Moving Things are Alive” or “Stationary Things are Not”

ABSTRACTRecent studies have proposed that the automatic activation of naïve concepts, which persist even after learning scientific concepts, must be inhibited to successfully output scientific concepts. This model assumes that individual differences in inhibitory control (IC) within executive functions represent differences in conceptual change. However, the reported correlations between concept conflict and IC tasks are weak, casting doubt on this assumption. This study improves on previous methodologies by focusing on the performance of adult subjects in living and nonliving concept tasks presumed to have successfully achieved conceptual change and quantifying semantic‐level IC through the Stroop interference effect. The results revealed that the correlations between the Stroop interference effect and reaction time (RT) differences between conditions of the concept conflict task, which are assumed to represent the time required to inhibit naïve concepts, were relatively stronger compared with findings reported in previous studies. These findings suggest that individual differences in fluent inhibition of naïve concepts after acquiring scientific concepts align with those in IC, thereby supporting the validity of the inhibition model of naïve concepts.

The Cognitive Profile of Older Adults With Treatment-Resistant Depression: An Analysis of the OPTIMUM Randomized Controlled Trial

ObjectiveMajor depressive disorder in older adults (late-life depression; LLD) is frequently associated with cognitive impairment, and some deficits (e.g., executive function) have been associated with a higher level of treatment resistance. However, the cognitive profile of treatment-resistant LLD (TR-LLD) has not been characterized. We hypothesized that patients with TR-LLD would show deficits in cognitive function, especially executive function, and that executive function deficits would predict poorer response to pharmacotherapy. DesignSecondary analysis of baseline cognitive data from OPTIMUM, a multicenter RCT evaluating pharmacotherapy strategies for TR-LLD. SettingFive outpatient academic medical centers (4 US, 1 Canada). ParticipantsAbout 369 participants aged 60 and older from the OPTIMUM study. MeasurementsBaseline scores on individual tasks and composite scores from the NIH Toolbox-Cognition Battery were transformed into demographically-adjusted T-scores and compared to published norms. Impairments in the set shifting and inhibitory control tasks were investigated as predictors of depressive symptom change following treatment using ANCOVA models. ResultsParticipants had low performance on tasks evaluating inhibitory control, processing speed, verbal/nonverbal memory, and the fluid composite, but normative performance on working memory and set shifting. Participants had high estimated premorbid IQ (superior Performance on oral reading recognition). Age and physical comorbidity negatively associated with processing speed. Impairments in set shifting predicted less improvement in depressive symptoms; impairments in inhibitory control did not. ConclusionsParticipants with TR-LLD presented with broad cognitive deficits relative to healthy norms. Given poorer outcomes following standard pharmacotherapy associated with impaired set shifting, future research needs to identify alternative treatment strategies.

The inhibitory control deficit of internet gaming disorder: An Event-Related Potentials(ERPs) study

IntroductionThe primary difficulty and challenge encountered by individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) is inhibitory control deficit. Given that different types of inhibitory control have different effects on IGD patients, it is critical to investigate the neurological cognitive processes underlying various inhibitory control problems. MethodsThe IGD-20 questionnaire was used to identify Internet game disorder and healthy control group, and finally Internet game disorder in (n=25) and healthy control group (n=28) in Flanker task, Internet game disorder (n=29) and health control group (n=24) in GO/NOGO task. The Flanker task was employed to investigate distractor interference inhibition control in those with IGD, while the Go/NoGo task was used to measure their prepotent response inhibitory control. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to evaluate the brain mechanisms difference of both IGD and healthy participants during these different inhibitory control tasks. ResultsFindings indicate that compared to healthy control subjects, individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) have deficits in inhibitory control tasks during both distraction inhibition and prepotent response inhibition tasks, and distraction inhibition occurs earlier than prepotent response inhibition. In distraction inhibition tasks, the IGD group's N2 amplitude is significantly lower than the healthy control groups. In prepotent response inhibition, the N2 amplitude provoked in the IGD group is not only significantly lower than in the healthy control group, but the P3 amplitude is also significantly larger in the IGD group. The main brain activity areas of interference inhibitory control are the frontal lobe and prefrontal lobe, while the main brain activity areas of prepotent response inhibitory control are the frontal lobe and occipital lobe. ConclusionThe present study concentrates on the differential neurophysiological characteristics observed in individuals with Internet gaming problems, notably the ability to avoid distractions and prepotent reactions. The current research provides foundations for the assessment and development of tailored therapy and treatment methods to address the wide variety of cognitive problems reported in individuals with Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD).

Year-Long Cannabis Use for Medical Symptoms and Brain Activation During Cognitive Processes

Cannabis is increasingly being used to treat medical symptoms, but the effects on brain function in those using cannabis for these symptoms are not known. To test whether 1 year of cannabis use for medical symptoms after obtaining a medical cannabis card was associated with increased brain activation during working memory, reward, and inhibitory control tasks, areas of cognition affected by cannabis. This cohort study was conducted from July 2017 to July 2020 among participants from the greater Boston area who were recruited as part of a clinical trial of individuals seeking medical cannabis cards for anxiety, depression, pain, or insomnia symptoms. Participants were aged between 18 and 65 years. Exclusion criteria were daily cannabis use and cannabis use disorder at baseline. Data analysis was conducted from August 2021 to April 2024. Outcomes were whole brain functional activation during tasks involving working memory, reward, and inhibitory control at baseline and after 1 year of medical cannabis card ownership. Imaging was collected from participants before and 1 year after obtaining medical cannabis cards, with 57 participants at baseline (38 female [66.7%]; 6 [10.5%] Black and 45 [78.9%] White participants; 1 [1.8%] Hispanic participant; median [IQR] age, 34.0 [24.0-51.0] years) and 54 participants at 1 year (37 female [68.5%]; 4 [7.4%] Black and 48 [88.9%] White participants; 1 [1.9%] Hispanic participant, median [IQR] age, 36.5 [25.0-51.0] years). Imaging was also collected in 32 healthy control participants at baseline (22 female [68.8%]; 2 [6.2%] Black and 27 [84.4%] White participants; 3 [9.4%] Hispanic participants; median [IQR] age, 33.0 [24.8-38.2] years). In all groups and at both time points, functional imaging revealed canonical activations of the probed cognitive processes. No statistically significant difference in brain activation between the 2 time points (baseline and 1 year) in those with medical cannabis cards and no associations between changes in cannabis use frequency and brain activation after 1 year were found. In this cohort study of adults obtaining medical cannabis cards for medical symptoms, no significant association between brain activation in the areas of cognition of working memory, reward, and inhibitory control and 1 year of cannabis use was observed. The results warrant further studies that probe the association of cannabis at higher doses, with greater frequency, in younger age groups, and with larger, more diverse cohorts.

Differential effects of social versus monetary incentives on inhibitory control under acute inflammation

While the impact of chronic, low-grade inflammation on cognitive functioning is documented in the context of neurodegenerative disease, less is known about the association between acute increases in inflammation and cognitive functioning in daily life. This study investigated how changes in interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were associated with performance on an inhibitory control task, the go/no-go task. We further examined whether the opportunity to earn different incentive types (social or monetary) and magnitudes (high or low) was associated with differential performance on the task, depending on IL-6 levels. Using a within-participant design, individuals completed an incentivized go/no-go task before and after receiving the annual influenza vaccine. Multilevel logistic regressions were performed on the trial-level data (Nobs = 30,528). For no-go trials, we did not find significant associations in IL-6 reactivity and changes in trial accuracy between sessions. For go trials, we found significant differences in the associations between IL-6 reactivity and changes in accuracy as a function of the incentive condition. Notably, greater IL-6 reactivity was consistently associated with fewer omission errors (i.e., greater accuracy on go trials) on high-magnitude social incentives (i.e., viewing a picture of a close-other) when compared to both low-magnitude social and high-magnitude monetary incentives. Together, these results suggest that mild fluctuations in inflammation might alter the valuation of an incentive, and possibly a shift toward devoting greater attentional resources when a large social incentive is on the line. Overall, this study sheds light on how everyday, low-grade fluctuations in inflammation may influence cognitive abilities essential for daily life and effective inhibitory control.

EEG activation in preschool children: Characteristics and predictive value for current and future mental health status

BackgroundPrevious research has characterised EEG changes associated with resting activation in primary school children and adults, while task-related activation has only been considered in adults. The current study characterises physiological activation in preschool children and examines the potential value of activation indices for predicting mental health status at two time points. AimsTo investigate how resting activation and task-related activation are represented in 4- to 5-year-old preschool children and examine if these activation indices can predict current and future mental health status. Methods and proceduresFrontal EEG was recorded from 81 preschool children during eyes-closed resting, eyes-open resting, and an inhibitory control task to allow calculation of activation indices. The Child Behaviour Checklist was completed by the child’s parent at this time, and again 6–8 months later after the child’s transition to kindergarten. Outcomes and resultsResting activation was represented by reductions in frontal delta, theta, and alpha power in the eyes-open compared to eyes-closed condition, and an increase in frontal beta power. Task-related activation was represented by increases in frontal delta, theta, and alpha power and a decrease in beta power. Frontal delta and theta task-related activation significantly predicted externalising behaviours in both preschool and kindergarten, with stronger prediction in kindergarten. Conclusions and implicationsThis study characterised resting and task-related activation in preschool children, and reported similar effects to those found in older children and adults for resting activation, with novel effects for task-related activation. As task-related activation indices were predictive of externalising behaviours in both preschool and kindergarten, these results have implications for early identification of children who experience externalising behavioural problems across the transition to school period. What does this study add?This study provides new data on how the fundamental physiological processes of resting and task-related activation, both of which are theorised to contribute to “upstream” processes such as executive functions and broader behaviour, are represented in the frontal EEG of preschool aged children. We also learn that the top-down task-related activation indices for delta and theta activity were predictive of current mental health status and future status after the transition to kindergarten, while the bottom-up resting activation indices were not.

The cognitive triad network - oscillation - behaviour links individual differences in EEG theta frequency with task performance and effective connectivity

We reconcile two significant lines of Cognitive Neuroscience research: the relationship between the structural and functional architecture of the brain and behaviour on the one hand and the functional significance of oscillatory brain processes to behavioural performance on the other. Network neuroscience proposes that the three elements, behavioural performance, EEG oscillation frequency, and network connectivity should be tightly connected at the individual level. Young and old healthy adults were recruited as a proxy for performance variation. An auditory inhibitory control task was used to demonstrate that task performance correlates with the individual EEG frontal theta frequency. Older adults had a significantly slower theta frequency, and both theta frequency and task performance correlated with the strengths of two network connections that involve the main areas of inhibitory control and speech processing. The results suggest that both the recruited functional network and the oscillation frequency induced by the task are specific to the task, are inseparable, and mark individual differences that directly link structure and function to behaviour in health and disease.

Examining Food-Specific and General Inhibitory Control and Working Memory as Moderators of Relations Between Emotion Regulation Difficulties and Eating Pathology in Adults With Overweight/Obesity: A Preregistered, Cross-Sectional Study.

Empirical research and theory support the interaction of executive functions (e.g., inhibitory control, working memory) and emotion regulation in guiding goal-oriented behavior; however, applications to eating pathology (e.g., binge eating) are limited. Such research is scant with adults with overweight/obesity (AwO/O), a population reporting high levels of binge eating, emotion regulation difficulties, and deficits in inhibitory control and working memory. We tested interactions between emotion regulation and executive functioning in relation to eating pathology in AwO/O while considering stimuli-specific deficits (e.g., food-specific deficits) in behavioral task performance. AwO/O (N = 204; MBMI = 32.11; Mage = 38.30 [SD = 12.16]) completed a preregistered, online study assessing demographics and emotion regulation difficulties (Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale), inhibitory control (go/no-go task, food and general stimuli), working memory (N-Back Task, food and general stimuli), binge eating (Binge Eating Scale), and disordered eating (Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire). There was limited evidence of moderation in models examining food-specific and general inhibitory control and working memory, emotion regulation difficulties, and binge eating. Preliminary support was found for emotion regulation difficulties to be more strongly associated with more disordered eating in AwO/O reporting more food-specific and general working memory deficits. Consistent, positive associations between emotion regulation difficulties and eating pathology were observed. Among adults with AwO/O, emotion regulation difficulties are closely related to eating pathology, regardless of performance on working memory and inhibitory control tasks. Clinicians and researchers working with AwO/O may consider how emotion regulation difficulties and working memory deficits work together to influence disordered eating.

Pre-natal and early life lead exposure and childhood inhibitory control: an item response theory approach to improve measurement precision of inhibitory control

BackgroundNeurodevelopmental performance tasks are often separately analyzed, even when they tap into a similar construct. This may yield mixed findings for associations of an exposure-neurobehavioral outcome. We develop an item response theory (IRT) approach to integrate multiple task variables together to improve measurement precision of the underlying construct. We apply this approach to create an integrative measure of childhood inhibitory control, and study impacts of pre/post-natal lead exposure.MethodsUsing data from a prospective cohort based in Mexico (N = 533), we created an inhibitory control scale that integrates accuracy and reaction time information from four inhibitory control tasks (Go/NoGo Letter, Go/NoGo Neutral, Go/NoGo Happy, Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) Color-Word Interference Test, Condition 3). Using a generalized partial credit item response theory model, we estimated an inhibitory control index for each participant. We then assessed adjusted associations between umbilical cord blood and 4-year lead and childhood inhibitory control. We developed a resampling approach to incorporate error estimates from the inhibitory control variable to confirm the consistency of the lead-inhibitory control associations. We modeled time-varying associations of lead with each inhibitory control measure separately.ResultsParticipants had a median age of 9 years; 51.4% were males. Umbilical cord blood [-0.06 (95% CI: -0.11, -0.01)] and 4-year lead [-0.07 (95% CI: -0.12, -0.02)] were associated with inhibitory control index at 8–10 years. A resampling approach confirmed that 4-year lead was consistently associated with childhood inhibitory control index. Umbilical cord blood and 4-year lead were each associated with 3 out of 8 measures in separate models.ConclusionThis is the first application of IRT in environmental epidemiology to create a latent variable for inhibitory control that integrates accuracy and reaction time information from multiple, related tasks. This framework can be applied to other correlated neurobehavioral assessments or other phenotype data.

Effects of Repeated Administration of an Inhibitory Control Task in the Absence of an Intervention

Effects of Repeated Administration of an Inhibitory Control Task in the Absence of an Intervention

Modulation of Posterior Default Mode Network Activity During Interoceptive Attention and Relation to Mindfulness

BackgroundInteroceptive attention to internal sensory signals, such as the breath, is fundamental to mindfulness. However, interoceptive attention can be difficult to study, with many studies relying on subjective and retrospective measures. Response consistency is an established method for evaluating variability of attention on exteroceptive attention tasks, but it has rarely been applied to interoceptive attention tasks. MethodsIn this study, we measured consistency of response times on a breath-monitoring task with simultaneous electroencephalography in individuals across the life span (15–91 years of age, N = 324). ResultsWe found that consistency on the breath-monitoring task was positively correlated with attentive performance on an exteroceptive inhibitory control task. Electroencephalography source reconstruction showed that on-task alpha band (8–12 Hz) activity was greater than that measured at rest. Low-consistency/longer breath responses were associated with elevated brain activity compared with high-consistency responses, particularly in posterior default mode network (pDMN) brain regions. pDMN activity was inversely linked with functional connectivity to the frontoparietal network and the cingulo-opercular network on task but not at rest, suggesting a role for these frontal networks in on-task regulation of pDMN activity. pDMN activity within the precuneus region was greater in participants who reported low subjective mindfulness and was adaptively modulated by task difficulty in an independent experiment. ConclusionsElevated pDMN alpha activity serves as an objective neural marker for low-consistency responding during interoceptive breath attention, scales with task difficulty, and is associated with low subjective mindfulness.

Examining the relationship between psychosocial adversity and inhibitory control: an fMRI study of children growing up in extreme poverty.

Exposure to psychosocial adversity (PA) is associated with poor behavioral, physical, and mental health outcomes in adulthood. As these outcomes are related to alterations in developmental processes, growing evidence suggests that deficits in executive functions-inhibitory control in particular-may, in part, explain this relationship. However, literature examining the development of inhibitory control has been based on children in higher resource environments, and little is known how low resource settings might exacerbate the link between inhibitory control and health outcomes. In this context, we collected fMRI data during a Go/No-Go inhibitory control task and PA variables for 68 children 5 to 7 years of age living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, an area with a high prevalence of PA. The children's mothers completed behavioral questionnaires to assess the child's PA and their own PA. Whole-brain activation underlying inhibitory control was examined using the No-Go versus Go contrast, and associations with PA variables were assessed using whole-brain regressions. Childhood neglect was associated with weaker activation in the right posterior cingulate, whereas greater family conflict, economic stress, and maternal PA factors were associated with greater activation in the left medial frontal gyrus, right superior and middle frontal gyri, and left cingulate gyrus. These data suggest that neural networks supporting inhibitory control processes may vary as a function of exposure to different types of PA, particularly between those related to threat and deprivation. Furthermore, increased activation in children with greater PA may serve as a compensatory mechanism, allowing them to maintain similar behavioral task performance.

Morphological and Inhibitory Skills in Monolingual and Bilingual Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder.

This study examined the language and nonverbal inhibitory control skills of Italian monolingual and bilingual typically developing (TD) preschoolers with Italian as their second language and of age-matched monolingual and bilingual peers with developmental language disorder (DLD). Four groups of preschoolers were enrolled: 30 TD Italian monolinguals, 24 TD bilinguals, 19 Italian monolinguals with DLD, and 19 bilinguals with DLD. All children were assessed in Italian on vocabulary, receptive morphosyntax, and morphological markers for DLD in the Italian language (i.e., third-person verb inflections, definite articles, third-person direct-object clitic pronouns, simple prepositions) and nonverbal inhibitory control skills. Group performance was compared using a series of one-way analyses of variance. Monolingual and bilingual children with DLD achieved significantly lower performance in all language measures compared to both TD monolingual and bilingual children. However, TD bilinguals, although comprehensively showing better language skills than monolinguals with DLD, achieved a performance closer to that of monolinguals with DLD but significantly higher than that of bilinguals with DLD. Both TD monolinguals and bilinguals showed better results than both DLD groups in inhibitory control tasks, particularly in the interference suppression task. This study provides a picture of language and inhibitory control characteristics of children with various language profiles and adds to the literature on potential markers of DLD among bilingual children. These results suggest that the assessment of nonlinguistic markers, which are associated with language impairment, could be a useful approach to better specify the diagnosis of DLD and reduce cases of misdiagnosis in the context of bilingualism.

Reliability of brain metrics derived from a Time-Domain Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy System

With the growing interest in establishing brain-based biomarkers for precision medicine, there is a need for noninvasive, scalable neuroimaging devices that yield valid and reliable metrics. Kernel’s second-generation Flow2 Time-Domain Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (TD-fNIRS) system meets the requirements of noninvasive and scalable neuroimaging, and uses a validated modality to measure brain function. In this work, we investigate the test-retest reliability (TRR) of a set of metrics derived from the Flow2 recordings. We adopted a repeated-measures design with 49 healthy participants, and quantified TRR over multiple time points and different headsets—in different experimental conditions including a resting state, a sensory, and a cognitive task. Results demonstrated high reliability in resting state features including hemoglobin concentrations, head tissue light attenuation, amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, and functional connectivity. Additionally, passive auditory and Go/No-Go inhibitory control tasks each exhibited similar activation patterns across days. Notably, areas with the highest reliability were in auditory regions during the auditory task, and right prefrontal regions during the Go/No-Go task, consistent with prior literature. This study underscores the reliability of Flow2-derived metrics, supporting its potential to actualize the vision of using brain-based biomarkers for diagnosis, treatment selection and treatment monitoring of neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive disorders.

Bidirectional relations between parents' discipline strategies and children's inhibitory control from early to middle childhood.

Parents' use of harsh discipline and inductive discipline are theorized to change normatively across the transition from early to middle childhood (ages 5-7 years), with harsh discipline decreasing and inductive discipline increasing. Importantly, within-person support for these changes is lacking. Additionally, these changes are argued to be driven by improvements in children's cognitive and social abilities, including inhibitory control. The present study examined within-family bidirectional relations between parents' (primarily mothers') harsh discipline, inductive discipline, and children's inhibitory control across the transition to middle childhood. Participants were 118 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds and their primary caregivers. At two time points, separated by 12 months, parents completed a questionnaire about their use of harsh and inductive discipline, and children completed a battery of inhibitory control tasks. A latent change score model was used to examine within-family bidirectional relations. More inductive discipline at Time 1 was related to a decline in harsh discipline over the year for parents of 5- and 6-year-olds, but not 4-year-olds. Harsh discipline at Time 1 was not related to change in inductive discipline. Parental discipline was not related to the change in children's inhibitory control, nor was inhibitory control related to the change in parental discipline. Relations between inductive discipline and change in harsh discipline provide within-person support for expectations of normative change in parents' discipline strategies across the transition to middle childhood. Further research examining when parents of 4-year-olds make this transition and predictors of change in parental discipline will inform research of normative trajectories of parental discipline. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Whole Coffee Cherry Extract Improves Working Memory and Response Inhibition: Acute and Longitudinal Results from a Remote, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Earlier laboratory-based evidence has suggested that polyphenol-rich, decaffeinated whole coffee cherry extract (CCE) supports improvements in acute and long-term cognitive performance. To better understand CCE's potential to promote cognitive processing, we conducted a first-of-its-kind remote clinical trial. Participants were randomized into one of two intervention arms: placebo or 200 mg CCE. At the beginning of the study, participants were asked to complete a set of acute cognitive challenges as part of the baseline assessment. Tasks were nearly identical to those used in previous, laboratory-based research. Acute results support that CCE outperformed placebo, reducing omissions and improving accuracy, during working memory and inhibitory control tasks. Long-term results indicate that CCE outperformed placebo on a measure of accuracy. This contributes to the literature in three ways: (1) results improve upon previously reported robust and consistent findings in a real-world setting that a single-dose of CCE acutely improved cognitive performance; (2) results replicate previous laboratory findings but in a real-world setting that long-term CCE supplementation outperformed placebo on measures of accuracy in a working memory task; and (3) it serves as proof of concept of a novel remote clinical trial model that may provide real-world evidence of efficacy while increasing accessibility and cohort diversity.

The influence of open-skill and closed-skill sports on executive functions: a systematic review

Aims/Background Open-skill sports are reportedly more effective than closed-skill sports in improving executive functions. However, it remains unclear as to its superiority in specific components of executive functions and specific populations. This review aims to explore the degree to which specific components of executive functions are affected by different sport types, open-skill sports and closed-skill sports, among different age groups. Methods Relevant articles published from 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2023 were searched and obtained from four databases, namely EBSCO, PubMed, Web of Science, and Science Direct. These studies were selected through a carefully established article-filtering workflow, governed by a set of inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the quality assessment was carried out independently by each researcher. Results Out of the 30 studies included for this systematic review, eight studies demonstrated the beneficial impacts of open-skill sports on adults by improving three executive functions subcomponents, as compared with closed-skill sports. Six studies found that open-skill sports are conducive to inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility among children and adolescents, while four studies showed that open-skill sports greatly enhance inhibitory control in elderly individuals. Conclusion Compared with closed-skill sports, open-skill sports have a favourable impact on inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility in children, adolescents, and adults, marked by shorter response time in inhibitory control tasks, as well as shorter response time and lower switch costs in cognitive flexibility tasks. In addition, relative to closed-skill sports, open-skill sports heightens accuracy in working memory tasks among adults.

The role of inhibitory control in spoken word recognition: evidence from cochlear implant users

ABSTRACT During spoken word recognition, listeners must quickly map sounds to meaning while suppressing competitors. It remains unclear whether domain-general inhibitory control is recruited for resolving lexical competition. Cochlear implant (CI) users present a unique population for addressing this question because they are consistently confronted with degraded auditory input, and may need to rely on domain-general mechanisms to compensate. We examined word recognition in adult CI users who were prelingually deaf (lost their hearing in childhood, N = 21), postlingually deaf (lost their hearing in adulthood, N = 50), and normal hearing controls (NH; N = 71). Participants recognised words during an eye-tracking task and completed an inhibitory control task. CI users were slower to recognise words and did not resolve competition as fully. Better inhibitory control predicted faster word activation in NH controls and postlingual, but not prelingual, CI users. Prolonged experience with acoustic language may thus influence how domain-general mechanisms are recruited for language processing.